The Physics of Sailing - KQED QUEST

Northern California has a storied, 500-year history of sailing. But despite this rich heritage, scientists and boat designers continue to learn more each day about what makes a sail boat move. Contrary to what you might expect, the physics of sailing still present some mysteries to modern sailors.

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  Science & Technology

[Ronplucksstrings]

4:20 ...ah, the old blowing-over-the-piece-of-pape­r-to-show-lift.demonstration ..but if it was that simple, you'd expect the paper to sag further if you blew UNDER it, wouldn't you?...and it doesn't... Now all we need is an "Equal transit time" explanation and the illusion will be complete...STOP ABUSING BERNOULLI!

[Fred Young]

First of all, from the beginning, the misnomer is that square rigged sailing ships could only sail with the wind. Is she serious? As long as a ship has a keel and a rudder it doesn't matter what the shape of the sails are, the ships could tack into the wind. They probably teach that Columbus had to wait until the winds blew from the east to sail to America then wait again until it blew from the west to get back to Spain for example. She should have conferred with "big bird" first!.

[yfx2]

4:42 "actually sucked" ..... No it's being pushed by the area of high pressure moving to the area of low pressure. The only thing being sucked... is me.

[Tony Glaude]

Are you related to Sergio Garcia???

[discovery110]

This video is inaccurate. old sail boats can do almost the same as the new sail boats. See what is the "Portuguese Latin Sail" used today in modern sail boats to sail in the opposite direction of the wind. That sail was invented by the Portuguese in the XV century

[TheYachtskipper]

Dig the guy said stalled sail will luff??? gee...

What this video demonstrates really - lack of physics education in US primary school...

[frankleofonic]

You can do that with an airplane, because wind speeds are much higher on an airplane wing. Airplaines use this method because zero angle means less air resistance. But try with a windsurfing sail, which is always curved, and you will see that zero angle leads to zero force. Almost all the force of a sail is generated by angle of attack.

[MrNOMNOMNOMn]

OMFG.

[Narciso Vento]

See more in: ventoesom.blogspot.com - Tks!

[WashingtonCollegeMPC]

actually, if your sails are balanced well, you can sail upwind with the rudder unattended. That's how fast racers inch ahead of the competition... you can literally steer the boat with fine trimming changes.

[Nicholas Littlejohn]

carried the..slaves : )